Schrofenpass mountainbiking 2017-06-20

A mountainbike circuit tour over Schrofenpass and Hochkrumbach pass

Starting from Kleinwalsertal, we hit gravel roads at Söllereck and passed by the idyllic Freiberg See and the Fellhorn valley station, on our way to the lush green Rappenalptal. From the end of this long valley, a path leads up to the via ferrata of Schrofenpass. The ferrata is not too lengthy, but some sections are exposed and sure-footedness mandatory. The bikes are alternately carried on the left side and over the shoulders. (See a few previous images from Schrofenpass here and here.)

We weren't in our best shape today; having biked uphill for the past few days already - and this directly after a week of illness and another few weeks of injuries. Thus, once up at Schrofenpass after the ferrata, Markus had an aquaintance with the "endurance wall"; having to lie down on the ground to rest. That's where we discovered that he'd forgotten the sunglasses some distance below the pass. Perhaps just as well… Now he got a nice long rest in the shade of the greenery, while Sandra hurried down to fetch sunglasses…

We continued biking on the technical trail across Schrofenpass, towards Warth, Lechtal. This upper part offers an extended stretch of technical terrain (S2 with a few S3 sections) on uneven ground, before the final short downhill. The nature around Schrofenpass is incredible at this time of year; flowering meadows and Alpenrosen.

Down to Lechtal is a quick descent; most of it follows a tarmac road. We treated ourselves with a birthday cake on a café in Warth before continuing with the tarmac climb to Hochtannbergpass.

To get back to Kleinwalsertal, we would head up Hochkrumbach pass, with a difficult downhill to Bärgundtal as a last challenge. Unfortunately, we managed to take the longer path to Widdersteinhütte adding some 150 hm and an extra traversing trail below Widderstein to get back to our intended descent path. It was hard work under a hot afternoon sun, and the path was more difficult than the intended one via Widdersteinalpe. I can highly recommend to keep to the latter! :)

Now, this little tour is really getting dragged out… Yet, as it would eventually turn out, the steep carrying uphill didn't come close to the effort of coming down on the other side. Of course, the effort depends on one's mountainbiking skill - to be fair Markus had plenty of elated moments, riding just at his technical limit. If an S4 descent is too much though, pushing down is a thorough workout…